Fire destroys Easton man’s 2-story home

EASTON — Firefighters from five Aroostook County communities spent more than eight hours at the scene of a fire that gutted a 100-year-old two-story home Sunday.

Easton Fire Chief Kim White said Monday that the dwelling belonged to Bernard Hussey, who is believed to be in his 80s.

White said Hussey had just returned home from church shortly after noon and parked his car in the attached garage. He went into the house and began preparing lunch when he smelled smoke. He went into his garage to find his car on fire.

The fire spread quickly from the garage to the home.

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The Easton Fire Department responded to the call, as did firefighters from Presque Isle, Fort Fairfield, Mars Hill and Limestone.

“At the height of the fire, we had between 40 and 45 firefight-ers there,” said White.

The cold weather hampered efforts to extinguish the blaze, according to White.

“We were having awful trou-ble with the lines freezing up,” he said.

Firefighters put out the fire and left the scene at 8:30 p.m.

White said he believed the fire was accidental and may have started in the car’s engine. The State Fire Marshal’s Office will not be notified, he said.